Saturday Afternoon Lights: Hudson vs. River Falls FREE Recap
What a game, what a game! Yesterday I was fortunate enough to cover one of Wisconsin’s oldest high school football rivalries as the Hudson Raiders took on the River Falls Wildcats in the what was the schools 103 meeting. The two competitors have faced off since 1927, but the rivalry dates back as far as 1899, and since 1953 the Wildcats and Raiders - separated by just 15 miles - have played for the "Little Brown Jug" trophy. Needless to say the two teams facing off is a storied, historic, and romantic event that represents a lot of the cooler aspects of high school football, and last year River Falls took possession of the Jug for the first time since 2008. It was a massive and celebrated win, and yesterday’s renewal of that rivalry proved to be another exciting contest that resulted in Hudson regaining custody of the Jug in an eventual hard-fought 31-20 victory that saw a furious Wildcat comeback attempt and a one-man offensive wrecking ball for the Raiders. All you have to do is scroll below for a detailed retelling of the game, the standout plays and players, and more. Thanks for reading!
The game began with River Falls receiving the opening kickoff and getting to work with the athletic Jaden Schwantz busting out a 17-yard gain for an end around to get the Wildcats downfield. However, the Hudson defense recovered and flexed their muscle with a nice TFL and PBU by Owen Marnell and a nearly intercepted pass by
Holden Luetkens
Holden
Luetkens
6'2" | 235 lbs | DL
Hudson | 2021
State
WI
that led to River Falls having to punt it to Hudson on their first drive of the game. After starting their drive at their own 12, Hudson QB
Owen Anderson
Owen
Anderson
6'1" | 200 lbs | QB
Hudson | 2021
WI
and do-it-all, player of the game RB/ATH
Matteo Bonnin
Matteo
Bonnin
6'3" | 210 lbs | WR
Hudson | 2021
State
WI
got to work on the ground, setting up a pretty 40-yard reception up the seam by Grant Jamison. Shortly after, Anderson found Bonnin on a 33-yard TD throw up the Hudson sideline for the first score of the game. Bonnin had smoked whoever was covering him, and ran into the endzone basically unopposed. Six plays and 80 yards later and Hudson found themselves up 7-0. The Wildcats took back over on offense, but were forced to punt again as Hudson’s
Evan Tyler
Evan
Tyler
6'4" | 240 lbs | DL
Hudson | 2022
State
WI
& company were playing hard, physical, team defense and were unrelenting in the pass and run game. After the Raiders received the punt, a big throw to their TE got them deep into Wildcats territory, where Bonnin shot up the middle for his second TD and first rushing score of the game to put the Raiders up 14-0. As the first quarter expired River Falls had regained possession of the football and switched their QB to junior Vito Massa, a change that came to ignite the River Falls team and get them back in the game despite facing a two score deficit to their cross-county rival. END OF ONE: Hudson 14, River Falls 0
The QB switch to Massa ignited new life into the River Falls football team, and their offense was reignited with determination to begin the second quarter. They begin to trot down the field thanks to strong and consistent running from RB
Michael Krueger
Michael
Krueger
5'10" | 180 lbs | RB
River Falls | 2021
State
WI
- one of the players of the game - and a few tough runs and a screen pass later and River Falls found themselves knocking at the Hudson endzone. A couple plays later and Massa found Michael Schurman on a nice little throw and catch to put River Falls on the scoreboard. With 7:52 left in the half the score stood at Hudson 14, River Falls 6 with the Raiders set to take over on offense. Hudson continued their scoring streak, and thanks to a few incredibly exciting runs by Bonnin they found themselves kicking a FG to go up 17-6. River Falls had an answer though, and thanks to another impressive KOR by Schwantz and a big throw and catch from Massa to
Isaiah Gray
Isaiah
Gray
6'5" | 210 lbs | TE
River Falls | 2021
State
WI
River Falls got themselves back near the redzone of Hudson with the second quarter nearing its close. Another nice throw from Massa, this time to 2023 prospect Gavin Kohel, got them inside the 5, and Kohel finished off the nice-looking drive to get River Falls right back in the game at 13 to 17 with 1:52 left in the half. River Falls almost took over the ballgame after Sam Cleveland picked off a pass on the ensuing Hudson drive and Massa threw a hail mary, give it up to the gods pass downfield that found an open WR on the last play of the half, but a Hudson defender miraculously pushed the ball-carrier out of bounds at the 1 to prevent River Falls from taking the lead before the half, capping a stellar second half push from the Wildcats. AFTER TWO QUARTERS: Hudson 17, River Falls 13
The teams fought, pushed, scratched, punched, and battled back-and-forth in the third quarter, with tough running from River Falls’ Krueger and Hudson’s Bonnin going back and forth with powerful offensive running that put a hurting on tacklers of both defenses. As the third quarter ticked its last seconds off the clock the Wildcats had muscled their way into the redzone of Hudson, hoping for the first lead of the game.
The lead is exactly what they found, as the first play of the final quarter saw Massa find an open Gray for a 17-yard TD catch to put River Falls up 20-17 with 11:55 left in the game, and the momentum held firmly in the hands of the Wildcats. However, Hudson wasn’t going to hang out on their heels for long, and began pounding themselves down the field thanks to some aggressive Anderson running and found themselves inside the 20 of RF. Although banged up in the third, Bonnin fought through the pain and made another game-changing run as he slipped through an initial tackle attempt behind the LOS and pushed his pads through two more defenders to quickly respond to the River Falls TD and put Hudson back into the lead with 7:56 left in the game and the Raiders holding onto a 24-20 lead. At that point in the game Bonnin was up to 181 yards rushing on the night. The Hudson defense was fired up in the fourth quarter though, and took ahold of the ball game after watching their offense earn the lead, squashing an attempted River Falls comeback thanks to some strong pursuit and tackling by Marnell and
Evan Tyler
Evan
Tyler
6'4" | 240 lbs | DL
Hudson | 2022
State
WI
. They forced the Wildcats to punt, and then powered their way downfield behind the legs of Bonnin. Hudson’s QB Anderson put the team on his back in the fourth knowing his RB was hurting, and impressively trucked himself downfield with a few consecutive rushes and finishing the drive off with an exclamation point - throwing himself into the endzone for his 4th rushing TD of the year and an extension of Hudson’s lead 31-20. The eventual last River Falls offensive drive was stuffed by
Evan Tyler
Evan
Tyler
6'4" | 240 lbs | DL
Hudson | 2022
State
WI
with a suffocating sack, and Hudson was able to scrounge out a victory 31-20 over their cross-county rivals. It was a heckuva battle and both sides fought their butts off. What a game!
Stay tuned for the upcoming "Players of the Game" feature on PrepRedzoneWI. I hope you enjoyed!
Matteo
Bonnin
6'3" | 210 lbs | WR
Hudson | 2021
State
WI
got to work on the ground, setting up a pretty 40-yard reception up the seam by Grant Jamison. Shortly after, Anderson found Bonnin on a 33-yard TD throw up the Hudson sideline for the first score of the game. Bonnin had smoked whoever was covering him, and ran into the endzone basically unopposed. Six plays and 80 yards later and Hudson found themselves up 7-0. The Wildcats took back over on offense, but were forced to punt again as Hudson’s
Evan Tyler
Evan
Tyler
6'4" | 240 lbs | DL
Hudson | 2022
State
WI
& company were playing hard, physical, team defense and were unrelenting in the pass and run game. After the Raiders received the punt, a big throw to their TE got them deep into Wildcats territory, where Bonnin shot up the middle for his second TD and first rushing score of the game to put the Raiders up 14-0. As the first quarter expired River Falls had regained possession of the football and switched their QB to junior Vito Massa, a change that came to ignite the River Falls team and get them back in the game despite facing a two score deficit to their cross-county rival. END OF ONE: Hudson 14, River Falls 0
The QB switch to Massa ignited new life into the River Falls football team, and their offense was reignited with determination to begin the second quarter. They begin to trot down the field thanks to strong and consistent running from RB
Michael Krueger
Michael
Krueger
5'10" | 180 lbs | RB
River Falls | 2021
State
WI
- one of the players of the game - and a few tough runs and a screen pass later and River Falls found themselves knocking at the Hudson endzone. A couple plays later and Massa found Michael Schurman on a nice little throw and catch to put River Falls on the scoreboard. With 7:52 left in the half the score stood at Hudson 14, River Falls 6 with the Raiders set to take over on offense. Hudson continued their scoring streak, and thanks to a few incredibly exciting runs by Bonnin they found themselves kicking a FG to go up 17-6. River Falls had an answer though, and thanks to another impressive KOR by Schwantz and a big throw and catch from Massa to
Isaiah Gray
Isaiah
Gray
6'5" | 210 lbs | TE
River Falls | 2021
State
WI
River Falls got themselves back near the redzone of Hudson with the second quarter nearing its close. Another nice throw from Massa, this time to 2023 prospect Gavin Kohel, got them inside the 5, and Kohel finished off the nice-looking drive to get River Falls right back in the game at 13 to 17 with 1:52 left in the half. River Falls almost took over the ballgame after Sam Cleveland picked off a pass on the ensuing Hudson drive and Massa threw a hail mary, give it up to the gods pass downfield that found an open WR on the last play of the half, but a Hudson defender miraculously pushed the ball-carrier out of bounds at the 1 to prevent River Falls from taking the lead before the half, capping a stellar second half push from the Wildcats. AFTER TWO QUARTERS: Hudson 17, River Falls 13
The teams fought, pushed, scratched, punched, and battled back-and-forth in the third quarter, with tough running from River Falls’ Krueger and Hudson’s Bonnin going back and forth with powerful offensive running that put a hurting on tacklers of both defenses. As the third quarter ticked its last seconds off the clock the Wildcats had muscled their way into the redzone of Hudson, hoping for the first lead of the game.
The lead is exactly what they found, as the first play of the final quarter saw Massa find an open Gray for a 17-yard TD catch to put River Falls up 20-17 with 11:55 left in the game, and the momentum held firmly in the hands of the Wildcats. However, Hudson wasn’t going to hang out on their heels for long, and began pounding themselves down the field thanks to some aggressive Anderson running and found themselves inside the 20 of RF. Although banged up in the third, Bonnin fought through the pain and made another game-changing run as he slipped through an initial tackle attempt behind the LOS and pushed his pads through two more defenders to quickly respond to the River Falls TD and put Hudson back into the lead with 7:56 left in the game and the Raiders holding onto a 24-20 lead. At that point in the game Bonnin was up to 181 yards rushing on the night. The Hudson defense was fired up in the fourth quarter though, and took ahold of the ball game after watching their offense earn the lead, squashing an attempted River Falls comeback thanks to some strong pursuit and tackling by Marnell and
Evan Tyler
Evan
Tyler
6'4" | 240 lbs | DL
Hudson | 2022
State
WI
. They forced the Wildcats to punt, and then powered their way downfield behind the legs of Bonnin. Hudson’s QB Anderson put the team on his back in the fourth knowing his RB was hurting, and impressively trucked himself downfield with a few consecutive rushes and finishing the drive off with an exclamation point - throwing himself into the endzone for his 4th rushing TD of the year and an extension of Hudson’s lead 31-20. The eventual last River Falls offensive drive was stuffed by
Evan Tyler
Evan
Tyler
6'4" | 240 lbs | DL
Hudson | 2022
State
WI
with a suffocating sack, and Hudson was able to scrounge out a victory 31-20 over their cross-county rivals. It was a heckuva battle and both sides fought their butts off. What a game!
Stay tuned for the upcoming "Players of the Game" feature on PrepRedzoneWI. I hope you enjoyed!
